deercountry | (no subject)

Well, at least he would be a very cute pet.

"A parasite," she said, her eyes widening slightly. Although the name itself meant nothing to her, there were plenty of horrifying stories about parasites back in Valeria. And she was relatively sure she knew what a 'symbiote' was, in the most general sense.

Although she didn't know they liked to steal cake. She would have to ask him about that later.

Ariadne loved cake.

"I'm glad Aphra was there to protect you!"

Luke nodded at that, grinning slightly at her reaction.

"To give you an idea about how dangerous Abersyn Symbiotes are, both the Old Republic and the Empire's response to reports of their appearance is to bomb the location from orbit and hope it's enough," he continued. "The queen and everyone in her Citadel -- it was one massive hive of them that had gone unchecked for decades, maybe even a century. Not only had it developed into an advanced hive mind, but the queen had also found a way to grow more, without the need to kill the host in order to breed."

A frustrated breath escaped from him, and he paused a moment to sip at his tea, trying not to make a face at the memory of what came next.

"Also, don't be so quick to give Aphra credit," he continued. "Oh, she helped me escape at first, but that was only because she could have been taken over by a symbiote in that moment too. Once she had enough leverage to get the queen to do what she wanted, she handed me right over."

Ariadne made a face, immediately disappointed in this stranger she'd never met. "She did?" It was sometimes very difficult to believe the best in people, when they did such selfish things.

Obviously, whatever it was hadn't worked out in the doctor's favor. After all, Luke was sitting there now, drinking tea with her.

Still. What was the phrase Dean had once used?

"That's...not cold."

...she hoped she'd gotten it right. Maybe it was supposed to be cool?

Luke tilted his head in confusion, not sure what that phrase was supposed to mean. He shrugged it off after a moment -- different worlds had different saying after all, and he was pretty sure it was a comment on how it wasn't very nice of Aphra to do that to him. Which, yeah, it definitely was not "cold".

"Well, it was worse," Luke replied. "By the time that happened, my friends had appeared as well. Han got captured along with me, and I got to watch as he was implanted with a symbiote and forced to join the queen's guard."

He let out a breath; he had the unfortunate opportunity to hear his friends scream in pain a lot over the years, and that especially hadn't been fun.

"The queen had a different plan for me, though; apparently the 'essence' of a Force sensitive is practically a drug for Abersyn Symbiotes. She was... essentially eating my soul, I guess? It's hard to describe what she was doing, outside of the fact that it hurt."

His friend Han seemed to get in an awful lot of trouble. Perhaps he was the Dean of Luke's universe.

Didn't matter.

Ariadne's forehead crinkled in concern as she listened, her fingers growing a little tense. It sounded truly awful. There was no feeling worse than feeling helpless. Listening to suffering.

Poor Luke.

And then the idea of his soul being disturbed. Well, that hit close to home, in light of all of the chaos that the Winchesters had brought into her life. "Oh, Luke," she said softly. "That's...a nightmare."

"It wasn't fun," Luke admitted, as if that had been the least of the things he had endured in his life. Which... as much as he hated to think about it, it kind of was.

"I didn't know how we were going to get out of that one, but then Aphra snuck back in," he continued. "She explained to me how the hive worked, and... well, basically, the strongest person in the hive controls the hive. If I let a symbiote infect me, I could interrupt the queen's control.

"So that's what I did."

"Because you were the strongest."

Which probably had more to do with the Force than with Luke as an individual. But all the same, she gave him a proud, little smile. As if to say, 'but of course.'

She gave the back of his hand another light tap, before picking up her tea again.

"It's a little hard to figure out that Aphra, though. In the end what, exactly, did she want out of all of this?"

"She wanted that Jedi consciousness unlocked, though I'm not sure what for," he replied, frowning slightly. "I remember a report of a massive underworld gathering for some weapon, but nothing came of it that I remember. Either way, I got to see first hand what that 'Jedi' was like."

He shook his head. "I managed to freeze the queen, trying to take over the hive, but I was trying to keep my own consciousness separate, maintain my own sense of self. That consciousness intervened, showing me how I could take control of the symbiote, and with its emotional drive and control, make myself the most powerful Jedi that ever existed.

"But I didn't do that. I killed it instead, and I killed the queen as well."

It wasn't exactly a happy ending. Ariadne didn't like any confrontation that ended with death, especially the kind where there was no coming back. Still, she was relieved on Luke's behalf. It sounded like quite a lot.

"Well," she said, taking a sip of her tea. "What about your friend? The one who's always getting into trouble. You were able to rescue him, right?"

The Dean of his universe.

Luke grinned at that.

"The strongest in the hive controls the hive," he replied. "With me destroying my symbiote and the queen dead, that left Han in control. He ordered everyone to, as he put it, 'quit these people,' and that disrupted all the symbiotes, destroying them and freeing an entire planet of people."

He let out a faint laugh, taking a sip of tea.

"His inability to commit to anything at the time saved us all."

She smiled back. "Well, I'm glad to hear that part. Especially the 'freeing an entire planet of people' part." A pause. "Planets are big, right? Lots of kingdoms and continents?" Which meant a lot of people.

Ariadne set her mug down. She picked up the kettle, refreshing both of their cups. "You and your friends are real heroes, aren't you?"

It came out of nowhere and Ariadne was surprised at herself.

Still. She was right.

"I mean...real heroes. You save people."

"Yes, planets can be big."

Luke turned a bit pink at being called a hero, looking down at his tea cup.

"We try to," he admitted shyly. "We've fought hard to help the galaxy, to try and stop the Empire, to help the people affected by it. It isn't easy, and it takes a lot of work, but we do everything that we can."

There was a lot to admire in his work. More so than her own, if she was being honest. "I never got to go on lifesaving missions like that," she said. "My work with the resistance was always...I don't want to say 'less honorable.' But if I did it right, no one ever knew I was there."

And she wasn't looking for glory. Far from it. An Alastrian's safest protection was anonymity.

It was more...the idea of actually seeing the lives being changed.

She liked that.

"You must...you and your friends...you must feel so sure of yourselves, of what you're doing. Does...that make sense?"

Luke's expression softened, his fingers absently tracing the lip of the cup.

"I've had to go on missions like those, too," he admitted. "One on Jedha was... well, I learned a lot there."

He rested his arms on the table, leaning forward slightly.

"It's not easy," he continued. "There is so much that happens around the galaxy that we need to keep track of. So many people that need help, that need relief from the Empire. Yet at the same time, there are people that are so convinced the Empire is the only way to do things, that things were worse during the time of the Republic. There are times you question what you're doing, if you're doing the right thing."

Luke met her eyes then, his smile back, though it was a little sad.

"There are times it's not always easy to say, 'Yes, I'm doing the right thing'."

"I guess...those are the times when you need to believe it the most. So you can find whatever you need to keep going."

She pushed aside her mug, tracing triangles against the grain of the table's surface. Triangles were a sacred shape to the Elves. Mudorism believed in three great tenets: Strength, Knowledge, and Bravery. All three in balance. All three connected and flowing through each other.

Bravery was the easy part. The others were harder, sometimes.

And she wondered where self-confidence fell in that triad.

"I think you're doing the right thing. For whatever my opinion is worth."

Luke nodded faintly; she was right, of course. Finding out Vader was his father, after "knowing" him as a good man and Jedi Knight... that had definitely shaken his resolve, made him question if he was doing the right thing this whole time or if he was just being used. He learned the answer for himself, of course, but it had been a long road, and several hard lessons learned along the way.

He offered a smile at that last bit, almost reaching a hand out to her, before he stopped.

"It's worth more than you think," he replied. "Thank you."

Her eyes followed his hand. Forward, and then back again. And she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed. Luke was the only boy she'd ever held hands with and...she kind of liked it.

She turned her own over on the table, palm up.

"All I ask," she said quietly, "is that you let me help. If...if you need help." With Anakin. Obi-Wan. Any of them, really.

He peered up at her almost shyly at the pretty clear offer, before he reached out again. His fingers gently traced the lines of her hand, marveling privately at how small her hand was -- smaller than Leia's even.

"I will," he said, his voice soft, like he realized what he was doing was intimate. "I promise."

It was, by far, the most intimate thing she'd ever done.

Even more than dancing. She realized how much the girls at court would laugh at her for that. But she tried not to measure her life by them. For one thing, they were all wildly unhappy. For another, they were Elves. Which was something that she could never actually be.

"I believe you," she said. He was too much like her not to. After all, when she made a promise, she always kept it.

Always.

The soft smile he gave her was a clear sign of his appreciation, before he turned his attention back to what their hands were doing. His fingers traced along her fingers, like he was trying to memorize every line, every dip, as well as the feel -- worn from hard work but no less soft. He felt his face turn a bit pink, before he finally peered up at her again, suddenly feeling very shy.

"A...Airy, I... um..."

She tilted her head to one side, a piece of hair falling out of her braid. Was she being too forward? She didn't think Humans cared all that much about...

No. No, no, no. She wasn't going to play games with herself, trying to interpret.

"What?" she asked instead, a neutral question, curious and a little uncertain.

Luke's mouth worked a few times, before he pulled himself back, settling on a small smile and a faint blush.

"Nothing," he replied at first, before he let out a sheepish noise. "But... I guess... thanks. For trusting me."

Ariadne shook her head. She knew there was something else he wanted to say. It didn't require listening to his pulse or trying to catch his scent.

She'd watched enough people to know.

"I do trust you," she said. Including to say...whatever it was.

That soft expression was back on his face, the one that both showed his gratitude and kindness at once. His gaze drifted down to their hands again, his fingers still absently moving, though now like they were following a road they had traveled many times before. It was… nice, to be invited to know someone like this. It made him feel relaxed, like he really didn’t have to worry about war or teaching or anything of the like, and… just be Luke.

He closed his eyes, letting out a faint breath as he leaded back in his seat, releasing the tensions from the last few days (and the last few minutes) into the Force, before he finally looked up to her again.

“Would you like another story?” he asked.

"Always," she replied at once.

She sensed there was something going on in that mind of his, but Ariadne--for all of her time on the outside, looking in--was no expert in the way that Humans thought. Especially these Jedi, with their rules that made no sense to her, try though she might to understand.

And she was always trying.

Still. Luke knew her weakness. And it was enough to let her set aside her thoughts. For the moment, anyway. "A good one, of course."